Summer is for cars, ladies, and concerts!

It’s been far too long since I’ve published a new post. Life has been incredibly busy, but so is everyone’s.

image by SnS Fine Art

Let’s start off with the Cleveland Piston Powered Auto Rama that took place in March. Hell to the yes, it was amazing! For the last several years I volunteered my time at the Dragway 42 booth to promote the upcoming season, the new track, several events, and my hot rod shop. This year I little to no time to stay at the booth, as I was pulled in a thousand directions for emcee work during the Pin Up contest, interviews, photo shoots, and gear head conversations. This was the first year I didn’t get to see all the vehicles, but regardless, I saw an amazing amount of machinery, met some new faces, found some familiar ones, and in general, had an incredible time. Looking forward to doing it again in 2020!! 

April came around and held my 39 birthday. Wow! I’ve been told for over a decade now that I’d be lucky to see 40, and more than once I’ve been told that I would never see 40 years old with my past health battles. All I can tell you is this, as it reaches closer, I hope to not only prove anything is possible, but to also plan an epic 40th birthday. I don’t know that my dream of a Route 66 trip is actually going to happen for my 40th, but I’m going to keep dreaming that one day it will in fact happen. 

April was also the grand opening at the new location for the hot rod shop. What a roller coaster of emotions, expenses, and stress. We are in. We are up and running, and we are finally getting the work out. Some badass work as that! It felt like Corvette central for a while. Our reputation on custom fiberglass fabrication and repairs got out, and before you knew it, over half the vehicles in our shop were Corvettes. 

May brought my first low riders/hoppers show in Pontiac, MI. The Majestics Westside Detroit memorial day picnic was incredible!   The paint jobs, hydraulic systems, metal flake, culture, art, incredible paint jobs, and attention to detail blew me away! Not to mention one of the best sound systems I’ve ever heard in my life!  Several of us loved it so much that we marked on our calendar for next year! 

We also brought a new apprentice to the hot rod shop in May. At the end of the month we welcomed Emily ‘Mopar’ Mobley to our team. She’s currently under probation and has a few weeks to go until that ends. She has a year long apprenticeship, and if all goes well, she’ll become a permanent team member.

June was a busy month finishing up a couple of the classic rides since the shop was now up and functioning. ‘Chevy’ Cheyenne Johnson received a promotion and became the assistant shop foreman at Kandi’s.  

Later that month, myself and all of the ‘Kandi Girls’ visited Sugarcreek, OH for the Fabulous 50s Fling Cruise In in the downtown. We stayed at the Berlin Resort in Berlin, OH, one of my favorite places to stay when I frequently visit the area. Morgan (Ivy Electric), brought her mermaid tail with her for the adventure and I shot some video of her swimming in the beautiful salt water pool the hotel offers.  One little girl, maybe six years of age, walked in and saw Morgan swimming under water. She was all giggles and smiles, and she too loved mermaids so much that her bathing suit was made to look like a mermaid. The expression upon her face watching Morgan was priceless. 

July has been insane. I can’t seem to get the days straight, and sometimes they mold together. Events, emcee work, car shows, drag racing, grand babies, heavy metal festivals, and on it seems go. The month is almost over and i can’t even recall the start. 

One of the most memorable moments from this month was the InkCarceration Festival at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, OH this year. Not only do I love the MRPS for so many reasons... it’s beautiful and macabre for starters. Now it hosts one of the most amazing 3 day music festivals, featuring bands like: Godsmack, Shinedown, Seether, 5 Finger Death Punch, and many great others. We had VIP passes so I could get in the shade or head into air conditioning if needed, and boy did I need to a couple times! We reached mid to high 90’s during the event. 

We also lost half our body weight working our asses off in the hot rod shop during the sweltering heat. Ok, we didn’t lose much weight, more like our endurance and mojo. The 1969 Corvette was finished up with her custom Monza red paint job and fiberglass fabrication and repairs. She’s beautiful and the team did another great job! Now we’re on to the next rotisserie restoration. 

As the last week of July approaches, we prepare for our first Indiana adventure, and the following week we head to Gratiot, MI, then Lapeer, MI for some testing in the Nova, and Pontiac, MI for Tom Bailey’s Woodward Pre-Party, and Roadkill Nights.... oh how August is going to be even busier!! I don’t know if I’m excited or scared.